Introducing How to Spend It*: with Andrew McLuhan
Kicking off a new series, with Andrew as our first tastemaker of attention.
How to Spend It is a series in the Financial Times Weekend that I used to read when it got delivered to my old flat. It was always a page of visually stunning but inessential things - pillows and throws, vases, jewellery. If you had an extra £4,000 lying around, this is where you might find some inspiration.
As I’ve been building Quiet Media, I wanted to create an equally considered list of recommendations, but this time focused on another form of currency we have at our disposal: our attention. Hence the asterisk: a gentle reframing of what “It” refers to.
We’re constantly told our attention spans are shrinking - down to what, two seconds now? (I can’t keep up.) That ‘our generation’ can’t hold a deep thought, can’t read more than two sentences, only respond to ‘catchy’ thumbnails. There’s an entire industry built around engineering the perfect YouTube thumbnail and as a result, over time, everything looks the same. We’re participating in a race with no finish line.
But what if the problem isn’t our attention spans but the system designed to fragment them? Quiet Media is built on the belief that we have more agency than we think. And like money our cognitive bandwidth is limited, which means it’s worth managing intentionally. Right?
So what are you saving it from?
What are you placing it into so it compounds over time?
What boundaries protect it?
What rituals strengthen it?
Introducing How to Spend It* - a series of conversations with what we’re calling ‘tastemakers of attention’. Each instalment features a friend, collaborator, maker, deliberate about where their attention goes. We’ll look at the habits they’ve built, the tools they rely on, the constraints they’ve chosen. It could be the printed page helping them concentrate on what matters without the distraction of endless open tabs. An app that deepens their passions rather than flattens them. The recommendations will go far and wide, but the premise stays the same: attention is currency, and how you spend it changes everything.
Thank you for your attention,
Charlotte
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To begin we have a very special guest: Andrew McLuhan. Andrew and I met during a six-week course he ran with Matt Klein - an immersive series of teachings and long, generous conversations around his grandfather’s work. These conversations were definitely an early seed of Quiet Media. Andrew is a poet and the founder of the McLuhan Institute in Ontario, where he preserves and continues that legacy. Enjoy his unique take below.
What are you currently working on or thinking about?
I was part of a spiritual retreat recently that drove home what we all know - that our time is severely limited. It makes it near criminal to waste any. I've started considering more closely what's of equal value to my time on this Earth. I only have so much time in a day for myself, my work, my family, my community (-ies). Each is important to wellbeing. It's an ecosystem, and a healthy ecosystem requires ecology to achieve and/or maintain balance. Sometimes you have to prioritize one over the other but just know that you're doing it at a cost. You can regain balance or equilibrium, but you can't get back time.
What’s one thing you’ve stopped giving your attention to recently?
Long, unfocused meetings. I’ve cut them down wherever possible - reducing both the number and their length. Where I used to schedule an hour, I now schedule 30 minutes. It forces an economy and focus which is beneficial for everyone.
What’s something - a tool, practice, or format - that’s helped you focus or create space for what matters?
Handwriting is a beautiful thing.
Writing a letter is both a soothing practice, expressive art in both form and content, and a way to connect with people you care about. In times gone by it was common to have personal stationary. Quality paper with your name and maybe ‘from the desk of...’ on it. Coloured paper, even scented. Fountain pens with a variety of inks. Letter writing can be a ritual which brings as much joy to the writer as the receiver. I have found that writing by hand forces a focus that typing does not. The constraints of time and materials make you take more care in thought and composition as they are less forgiving.
Being honest, I used to write at least one letter a week, but have fallen out of the habit because of the time it takes. Like everyone, it seems I have less time than ever. I do however still send mail, I’ve just found a way to speed it up a bit while also retaining some of the pleasure and benefits of it. I have a letterhead template and type a letter in a typewriter font (I like Courier), and after I print it I will add a sentence or two by hand, and sign. It’s still an improvement on an email or text, and I still take the time to hand-write a letter or two a month.
What do you want to give more attention to in the coming months?
Having spent the last ten years working on ‘the medium is the message’ I’m turning my attention to sharing what I’ve found, what I’ve learned. I don’t want to give too much away on that but one form that I will take is a physical book which is necessarily static, another component is web-based and evolving as well as involving. With the help of artists around the world we will help each other understand that the medium is the message, and why. There’s no time to waste.
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How to Spend It* is also a unique segment published in the Quiet Media zine, launching soon in a limited run of 300 copies. Enter your email below👇🏼 to be notified when they’re available.